A Deal it Shall Be
by KamiKodiak
Summary: Follow a journey parallel to team Avatar's as Zai, a young firebender, makes a deal with a water spirit to save the world so he can keep his life.He will become a replacement for the Avatar. What while happen once Zai finds out the Avatar has returned?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The hawk screeched as it flew closer to the Fire Nation ship. Zai shot it a quick glance. He was used to the messenger hawks, but he still found them annoying. He sighed and looked up at the cloudless sky, leaning against the safety rail on the warship. Everything seemed so bland that day.

The other soldiers seemed to avoid him. He was certain some of them heard stories about him. About how he was different and rebellious, and how he was forced into the navy by the Fire Lord himself. They were just the dogs of the operation, while Zai mingled with the fat cats back home. Maybe they avoided him because even the smallest naval uniform was too big for him. Whatever it was, Zai could hardly care less. He'd rather not interact with anyone who helped the Fire Nation in the war. He didn't count himself as one of them. They were here by choice.

The commander walked onto the deck. He held a letter in the air. The message burst into flames and quickly disappeared before Zai could read the first word. Commander Zhao obviously wasn't happy about the news.

"Gentlemen, I've received word from the Fire Lord. There appears to be a traitor on board. The Fire Lord has personally asked us to rid our Nation of such disgusting people," The Commander said with a grim, tight smile on his face.

"Commander Zhao, who is it?" a soldier in bender armor inquired, standing not too far from Zai. He knew that he was the closet one to being a traitor on this ship, but he couldn't think of anything he'd done wrong, at least not recently. Whatever the news was, it must have been linked to his father some how. His father must have upset the Fire Lord enough that his crime extended to his family. Zai started to distance himself from the soldiers, trying to edge out of Zhao's line of sight. His efforts proved useless when Zhao turned to him.

"Well Zai, I guess you'll be meeting your parents sooner than you thought," Zhao grinned. He turned back to the other soldiers and his morbid smile faded. "Kill him."

"Well that isn't-" The soldiers interrupted him with several blasts of fire. Zai ducked; the blasts missed him by a hair. "-Fair…"

The soldiers moved in, looking to corner him.

"Come on guys, I could make you tea," Zai pleaded, "You can't betray the country if you only make tea..." The soldiers didn't look amused. A spearman eagerly charged him, there was probably some reward for whoever delivered the final blow. Zai quickly jumped over him, kicking him in the back of the head after he landed. The spearmen made a loud thud on the metal deck.

"You idiots! Don't go one at a time! Firebenders blast him!" Zhao commanded. The benders shot their fiercest attacks at Zai. At the last second, he shot himself high into the air, above their attacks, using his own firebending. All the soldiers stopped as they watched green fire appear out of Zai's feet. Obviously they hadn't heard stories about his peculiar firebending. Zai flipped over their heads and landed, now closer to Zhao then he was to the swarm of Fire Nation soldiers. He didn't know if that was a good thing or not. "Don't just stand there! Get-" Zhao's command was cut short when Zai hurled his breastplate at Zhao.

"Sorry, I just couldn't move in that garish armour," Zai apologized before dodging the fire Zhao shot at him. He ducked and rolled and gave the crowd of soldiers a large burst of green fire. Zhao charged at him, fists engulfed in fire. With a quick burst of fire from his feet, Zai flipped over him, pushing Zhao to the ground as he landed.

He then went back to blasting a series of firebending attacks on the soldiers. Tossing them away from him, chucking his shoulder guards and other pieces of his armour, punching, kicking, and blasting them away with fire. If they caught him, his life would be over rather quickly. He blocked another blast of fire and stumbled on his feet, trying to regain balance. His strength was draining, he couldn't fight them forever.

Zhao blindsided Zai, sending a rather sizable blast of fire into his torso. Zai tumbled to the ground. He could feel the icy sting of the frozen metal floor on his hands and face, contrasting sharply with the burns that ran across his torso. The edges of the hole in his shirt were still smouldering. The skin that wasn't raw and charred was frozen.

Zai tried to push himself up, but he couldn't move. His vision started to blur around the edges.

Zhao gripped his collar tightly and pulled him up to his feet. Zhao shoved him against the rail of the warship. Soldiers pinned his hands to the rail so he couldn't fight back, not that Zai had the strength to do so anyway.

"That will be your last rebellious act you'll ever do. I hope it was worth it," Zhao hissed, tightening his grip on Zai's collar.

"Actually no it wasn't…" Zai replied, getting a last burst of energy as he lifted his feet up and aimed a weak blast of fire at Zhao. It wasn't much, but it managed to knock the commander off his feet. "Okay, now it was," Zai said with a smirk. Zhao stood up and looked straight into Zai's eye. Zai glared back. After a moment of silence Zhao's expression hardened.

"Throw him over."

Before Zai could even process the command he was falling. He crashed into the water and felt the cold overwhelm him as everything when black.

X X X

"Alright Lani, our target is from the Fire Nation," Uncle Keoni started as he read the letter he had received from his contact.

"You mean your target," Lani corrected. "You just dragged me along because I'm a bender and can move the boat silently," she added with a grumble as she bent the water around the boat, moving it slowly and ensuring they made no noise.

"An assassin always has a means of transportation," Keoni shrugged as he dragged his fingers idly through the water, "and an assassin never kills in pairs. You can get the next person."

"Great, that's all I could ever ask for," she murmured sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"I know you're rolling your eyes Lani," He grumbled. "I would have done this alone if I could bend."

"I know, I know. It's all because you can't bend you drag me everywhe-" the boat bumped into something and Lani jumped. "What was that?" she asked as she stopped bending the water.

"It's probably just a leopard seal. Nothing to worry about," her uncle said, disregarding the incident quickly.

Lani looked over the edge of their small boat and found herself face to face with an unconcious boy. He looked younger than her.

"It's not a leopard seal uncle. It's a boy," Lani said, concerned.

"Does he look rich? Does he have a sack of money on him? Bring him up I want to see this boy," Uncle Keoni replied, his face lighting up at the thought of money. Lani carefully pulled the boy onto the boat. She noticed his burned torso and charred shirt. Her uncle, on the other hand, was busy searching the unconscious body for whatever valuables he had on him.

"Uncle, stop it. You're drooling all over him," Lani snapped, smacking her uncle's hands away from the boy.

"Who cares, he's soaking anyway," he grumbled, slouching in his seat on the boat. "You can toss him back now, he doesn't have anything and we need to go on with our mission."

"He's still breathing, the least we can do is take him back to the island and heal him," Lani pleaded.

"No. the least we can do is what I suggested. Now dump your boyfriend back in the ocean," he ordered, gesturing to the side of the boat. Lani glared at him before turning the boat around. "What are you doing? Lani, I said no! Lani!"

"We're helping him, and you're telling your contact the mission was a bust," Lani snapped back. Her uncle crossed his arms across his chest and pouted.

"You're not the boss of me…"

"But I'm the bender" Lani replied with a smirk on her face.

"Hey that isn't fair I'm older than you! Turn this boat around!" he snapped at her, standing up to grab Lani's shoulders at the same time as Lani speeding up the boat. He lost balance and fell off the back of the boat. "Lani!" he shouted trying to get her attention. Lani quickly stopped the boat.

"What's the problem? You can swim, right?" Lani stated with a grin. Her uncle quickly swam back to the boat and clumsily climbed on with Lani's help. "It was cold? You could have died?" Lani asked her uncle, wrapping a spare blanket around him.

"I get it. We can go back to the island and heal him," he grumbled. Lani smiled.

"But he's from the Fire Nation. We'll have to dump him at our sister tribe to the south, so our existence still stays unknown."

"Understood," Lani alleged, going back to moving the boat through the ocean. It wasn't a long way back to the island. Lani knew she'd have to let go of saving peoples lives if she wanted to become a great assassin like uncle, but that day wasn't today.

X X X

"Well hurry up, rip his shirt off," he groaned. He watched Lani hover over the boy for a good five minutes as he lay on his stomach in his hammock. She looked up at him, slightly disgusted. "Just do it already if you want to heal those wounds. You're new at this whole healing thing aren't you?"

"No I'm not; you forced me to train for years on it. So I can heal myself if a mission ever goes wrong. You taught me about all the plants and herbs with healing or poisonous powers. I'm pretty sure I can heal this boy's wounds." Lani snapped back at the man looking down at her from his hammock, which swung freely high in their hut.

"Then just rip his shirt off already. He won't mind," he grumbled before rolling on his back and staring up at the straw roof. Lani rolled her eyes and looked back at the boy. He was rather peculiar looking, though she supposed it was just the white streak in his hair.

She took a deep breath and ripped his shirt all the way off, fully exposing his torso. She bent the water out of the pots that surrounded her and wrapped the water around the boy's torso. She gently placed her hands on his burns. His energy was all mangled up in the wound. She tried to twist and untangle it so the energy wouldn't fade away. She did all she could, but it was still knotted there slightly, making the scar sensitive until the energy untangled itself.

"Uncle, do you have any Fire Nation clothing from your golden days?" she asked, realizing that leaving the boy near the south pole without a shirt would be overly cruel.

"Yeah there's some in my shop. Fire Nation clothing is hard to sell in the Earth Kingdom," he replied, sounding half asleep. He rolled onto his side in the hammock with his back facing Lani. "You can go in there and dress him up if you want, you weirdo."

"Uncle! You're going to change him," Lani snapped, standing up and tugging on his hammock.

"What? No. He's your problem not mine," he retorted, clinging to the other side of the hammock.

"Yeah, well I'm your problem, so he's your problem's problem. So he's your problem too," Lani explained, confusing herself slightly in the process. She yanked harder on his hammock and he tumbled out and fell to the floor.

"Fine I'll change him," he groaned picking himself off the floor. He picked up the boy and slung him over his shoulder.

"Just be careful. I don't want all my healing gone to waste if you drop him," Lani admonished as she went over to help her uncle carry him.

"I know what I'm doing…kind of…I changed you when you were a baby," he said as he rejected help from her. "Don't worry, he's unconscious he'll be less of a hassle than a crying baby."

"Okay…" Lani said letting her uncle walk out of the hut with the boy to his shop. She watched them as he carried the boy down the beach. She gave out a sad sigh and went back into the hut and lay in her hammock until her uncle came back.

X X X

Lani sat on the beach with the boat. The waves would roll up the beach and tickle her feet before falling back into the ocean. Her uncle walked past her with the boy dressed in clean Fire Nation clothes. Lani couldn't remember who the person was that wore the clothes when her uncle killed them, but by the look of it, it seemed like a very rich or high ranking man in the Fire Nation.

Lani herself wore clothing that her uncle wore when doing missions near their sister tribes, or when it was winter. It was unusually warm for something so thin, but her Uncle did have to design his clothing to be sleek, stealthy and ready for the conditions it's about to face.

Her uncle placed the boy in the boat. He looked over at his niece and gave her a nod bidding farewell. He untied the boat from the tree it rested against and handed the rope to Lani. Lani stood up with the rope in her hand and looked up into her uncle's eyes. After what felt like a good minute of silence Lani hugged her uncle.

"Be careful," he whispered into her ear before letting her go.

"I always am."

X X X

He was still unconscious. The boy lay there peacefully, showing no signs of waking soon, which Lani supposedd was a good thing. She knew she'd never see him again, but it was good that he never knew who saved his life, lest he try and track her down. That wouldn't just be dangerous to her and her uncle, but to their whole island's existence and the secrecy that kept them safe.

She made it to land. The boat slowed down and came to a complete stop when it butted up against the ice. She got off the boat carefully, tying the rope around a wooden stake and driving it into the ice. She went back on the boat and picked up the boy's limp body.

She was getting tired, and the southern tribe village was too far away from where she landed, but in the distance she could see an old Fire Nation warship frozen in the ice. She made her way over to it. There was no way she'd be able to make into the ship carrying the boy; he only looked twelve or so, but he was still heavy. She lay him down near the ship. That's all she could do for him.

She knelt down beside him, resting her hands on the ice as she prayed to the Spirit of the Water Tribes to keep him alive. It started snowing and she sighed as she got to her feet, gazing down at his white streak of hair one more time before she went back to her boat and her tribe.

X X X

Zai stood on a bridge over a river of darkness. There was a door on each end of the bridge. He was confused. Where was he? Was this a dream? Was he in the Spirit World? He looked around, trying to find a sign of where he was.

"Hello young soul," a voice said, echoing through the mysterious place. Zai looked over a rail of the bridge. He saw a spirit floating above the river of nothing. It was a tiger, with blue fur and black stripes.

"Who are you? Where am I? Why am I on this bridge?" Zai asked desperate for an answer as he started looking around again. "And what are these doors?"

"I am Kaito, a Water Spirit from the Southern Water Tribe. You, Zai son of Zantai, are in the spirit world," the tiger said, his voice resounding without his mouth moving, "This place is where heroes go once they die. Here, they decide whether to go on to the true spirit world where rest all the Spirits and Avatars past, or through the other door where mortal souls rest."

"I'm a hero?" Zai inquired, feeling a little smug.

"No. Absolutely not," Kaito replied coldly. "You're dying and I needed a place to speak to your soul before you passed over."

"Oh…" Zai mumbled, feeling rather depressed.

"I've been searching for the Avatar for a century, in hopes of teaching him about balance of the world and how this war has affected it. It will take more than the Fire Lord's death to restore balance," he explained. The tiger jumped up onto the bridge with Zai.

"Then why am I here? Why are you telling me this?"

"There hasn't been an Avatar for a hundred years. I'm afraid if he doesn't come soon, this world is doomed. I need your help, and you're in a desperate position. So I'll make you a deal."

"Deal? What's the deal?" Zai asked, worried. He looked down into the spirits eyes. "What could I possibly do to help you? You are a spirit and I'm just a human teenager."

"Humans are able to restore balance in the Human world. I can't do much myself there. You're dying. Without my intervention, your body will freeze to death. You won't even wake up. I will save you if you agree to help me restore balance in the world. I can't just sit and wait for the Avatar anymore. I'm resorting to you. So is it a deal? I save your life if you devote it to restoring balance to the world, like the Avatar should be, or a silent death and a human afterlife?"

Zai hesitated before responding, but his mind was made up. "It's a deal. I'll help you and my world," Zai said, crouching down. He reached out his hand and shook the spirits paw.

"Then a deal it shall be."

X X X

Zai woke up. He was covered in snow. All around him lay a barren wasteland. He sat up and looked to his side to find a large blue tiger standing beside him. He scrambled back in surprise. The tiger gazed back him steadily.

"Now let our journey begin boy," Kaito said. "Get on my back, I'll lead you to the places that have tipped the scale on the world and made it unbalanced, but it is up to you to fix it."

Zai felt something under his hand as he pushed himself to his feet. He looked down at his hand and started digging through the snow. He pulled out a bracelet and turned it over in his hands. It looked very out of place, the markings different from anything Zai had seen from any other nation. Whoever had saved him must have dropped it. He put it on his wrist, a reminder of a stranger's kindness and his delivery from death.

He mounted Kaito's back, holding on tightly. Then Kaito started running, taking big loping strides to who knew where.

X X X

Lani hopped off the boat and sunk her feet into the warm sand as she tied it off. It felt good to be home again. Visits to the southern tribe's lands weren't frequent, but they always made her appreciate the warmth of Kaimana better.

She stretched, raising her hands high above her head. Her uncle and some other members of the tribe walked up to greet her. Insuring the safe return of every tribe member is part of what kept their tribe secret and safe.

"Lani," her uncle started, gazing concernedly at her wrists as she as she walked over to greet him, "when did you lose you virginity?"

She felt her face flush slightly as she lowered her hands back to her sides. "W-what do you mean? I haven't lost it..."

His brow furrowed and she vaguely registered the other members of the tribe whispering among themselves. Her right hand felt cold and bare. She was afraid to look down.

"Your bracelet is missing."

* * *

I Would like to thank my friend Kia for the lovely editing job she has done on this chapter.

I will be updating this story every **Friday** if everything goes well.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Zai flew through the air, landing face first in the snow. His head suck into the snow, stinging his face with its iciness. Wanting to get out of the snow Zai quickly pushed with his hands to help him up. Once his face was completely out of the snow and Zai caught a quick breath, the packed snow gave way and his hands sunk deep into the snow. His head slammed into the snow again. His second attempt was more successful. When he was finally out of the snow he wiped his face and firebent the snow off of himself.

"Augh! I hate Snow! I hate the colour of it, the cold of it, the texture of it, the-the smell of it! Everything about snow, I hate it!" Zai hollered as he stood up. He went to kick the snow but unfortunately for him he was standing on an icy patch and slipped as he kicked and landed square on his back. He groaned in pain and slowly sat up. He turned and glared at the blue tiger spirit sitting there and observing him. "Thanks a lot for stopping," he stated sarcastically dusting off more snow as the heavy downfall of snow covered his clothes.

"You are welcome," the spirit replied as he sat there calmly in the blizzard. "Now that I have stopped what is it that you wanted?"

"I'd like to put a muzzle on you," Zai grumbled under his breath.

The wind picked up with an eerie hollowing noise to follow it. The snow fell harder and faster, stingy Zai's eyes so much it was almost unbearable to keep them open. He could barely see in front of him as he blocked the snow from his face with his forearm. He walked slowly and carefully to Kaito.

Kaito sighed. "I don't understand why we stopped if you are just going to get back on me again," he grumbled. The blue tiger stood up allowing Zai to get on his back. Zai gripped onto some of his fur firmly but somewhat gently.

"This would be so much easier if you had a saddle," Zai groaned as he, by habit of riding komodo rhinos, kicked the side of the tiger. Kaito gave a roar but did not move. "Come on, let's go,"

"Do you have no respect for us spirits?" Kaito snapped angrily. "After centuries and centuries of my existence and meeting endless amounts of Avatars and great warriors alike, I have never had someone degrade me so much as to put a saddle on my back"

"I wasn't raised to care about spirits or if I showed them respect. The Fire Nation does not care for your supernatural world," Zai shrugged as he sat on top of the blue tiger.

"Odd. Your spirit doesn't seem like a Fire Nation spirit," Kaito stated. Zai was silent for a moment. Kaito craned his head back to look at Zai. He was looking down at the snow. After a moment of staring and the snowy ground Zai look back up at the far off and vague horizon.

"Well, they all thought I was different," Zai said quietly. "Come on, let's just go."

* * *

"How exactly do you plan for us to get up there?" Zai inquired and he pointed up the high mountain. The top of the mountain couldn't be seen, it was hidden in the clouds.

"It will be simple," kaito stated calmly.

"Simple! It's the Southern Air Temple! Only monks with gliders or Air bison could get there! I don't know if you noticed but we don't have any sky bison!" Zai yelled flailing his arms around.

"The Fire Nation found a way to get up there and kill all the Air nomads with no means of flying," Kaito replied.

"Yes, with machines with spike wheels that cling to the side of the mountain and then zoom, you're up there. We don't have machines or bison or airbenders or anything"

"You can also journey up there with spirits," Kaito stated. "Get on"

"Okay but I don't know where you're going with this," Zai said as he got on the spirit. Kaito started to charge straight at the mountain. Zai was afraid that Kaito was going to ram them into the side of the mountain so he braced himself be holding onto the tiger tightly and closed his eyes waiting for impact.

Zai felt the force of gravity change. Instead of feeling like he was being pushed into Kaito, it felt like gravity was trying to make Zai slide off of him. He opened his eyes to see Kaito running vertically up the mountain. He gave out a scream and held onto Kaito tightly. Not only was it a shock to see them running up the mountain vertically but Zai was also terrified of heights.

"We really, really don't need to go up there Kaito. I've already been up there and have seen the destruction and the imbalance it has made on the world. Just please, for spirits sakes put us back on solid ground"

"If only you had mentioned you have already visited the southern air temple earlier, we do not have to visit that sacred place anymore"

"Really?" Zai asked feeling very relieved that he didn't have to go up there again.

"No." The relief quickly disappeared.

"I hate when you do that"

* * *

It was starting to get dark so Zai and Kaito decided to rest on a ledge of the mountain, it looked secure enough to support both their weight. The only things they had were the clothes on Zai's back and the bracelet he found when he awoke in the South Pole.

Zai was starving. The last thing he ate was something Kaito hunted and he cooked using his firebending. It wasn't very good but there was nothing else to eat and it was pretty filling.

A loud hollowing noise started suddenly at the top of the mountain. Zai and kaito both looked up to see what it was. It looked like there was a small tornado happening at the temple. The wind twisted and turned and debris from a crumbling building got caught in its wrath.

Then, as suddenly as the tornado came, it disappeared.

"The weather works in mysterious ways up there," Kaito said as he went back to lying down to take a nap. "We will resume our journey to the top of the mountain when the moon is completely out," Kaito stated. Zai wasn't really listening; he was still looking up at the air temple.

"What was that ominous blue glow?" he muttered to himself.

* * *

Lani sat against the wall of her and her Uncle's hut. She couldn't believe that she lost her bracelet. That bracelet meant the world to her. It was the only thing she had from her parents. It was tradition to make a bracelet for your daughter when she is very young. It symbolized the most precious thing to a woman, their virginity.

Now that she lost her bracelet on her journey to place the unconscious Fire Nation boy in the Southern Water Tribe the whole tribe thinks she lost her virginity to him. She needed to get it back.

Keoni walked into the hut. He gave a quick glance at Lani then climbed up into his hammock and lied down. He looked up at the ceiling. Lani hugged her knees tightly. She hated when her uncle didn't talk. He was always talking; it made her very worried that he wasn't.

"The Fire Chief is mad," Keoni Mentioned.

"So he's not the chief of me. The Water Chief is. He should be concerned about the firebenders and let his brother take care of this," Lani muttered.

"I know. I know. I'm just warning you. There will be a meeting tonight that you will have to attend to decide what the punishment is for losing your virginity to a Non-Kaimanan," Keoni stated as he sat up on his hammock.

"I didn't lose my virginity, I just lost the bracelet," Lani snapped. She stood up and stomped her foot. "The spirits know I'm still a virgin and that's all that matters. They'll make this right"

"Okay. You're lucky the water chief believes strongly in the spirits, he'll go easy on you. But I'm afraid both the chiefs get a say on this. Since the Fire Chief is in love you, he's probably heart broken and will probably choose something pretty cruel. So, um, good luck," Keoni said. He jumped down from his hammock and walked out the door.

X X X

Lani walked to the sandy beach in the dark of the night. She came to a part of the beach that was lit dimly with torches. Two teenage boys sat on thrones carved out of the finest wood on the island. One chief couldn't sit still in his throne, he kept looking around and changing the way he sat while the other chief slouched in his chair with a very relaxed look on his face.

The chiefs were only a few years older than Lani. They were inexperienced and childish chiefs that didn't take their duties too seriously. The Fire Chief made quick, irrational orders based on his emotions while the Water Chief took some time to think things over and give more reasonable rules and commands.

Lani knelt down before both of them and bowed. She then slowly got up and looked back at both of them.

She froze as she reassessed the young chiefs' actions. Surely they wouldn't have. The Fire chief hiccupped and she resisted the urge to run out. They had.

Her fate in the tribe would be decided by a pair of drunken teenagers.

"Now, I think you know why you're here," the Fire Chief started. "And it's My, Ariki, and my brother Kai's duty to, um, pick a punishment for your crimes or whatever" The other chief started to giggle.

"At least it wasn't an unconscious Fire nation girl," Kai laughed.

"Look at her face, she looks so scared," Ariki pointed out. They both laugh wildly.

"What do you think we should do with her brother?"

Lani looked over at the crowd watching. She saw her Uncle shrug and shake his head. Others shook their heads as well. The Cheifs were losing more respect with every second that they ruled, especially when they ruled like this.

"I say, um, banishment!" Ariki stated. A lump formed in Lani's throught, she could barely breathe. A pair of drunken teenagers were going to banish her as a punishment.

"Hmmm, that's a stupid idea. Then someone could find out about our existence," Kai interjected. "Besides, since she's a waterbender, I get to say what we do to her" He rubbed his chin as he started thinking about a better punishment. "She has to leave the island and she isn't able to come back until she brings back her bracelet and can wear it proudly. That's how we'll know she's still a virgin"

"But that's almost the same thing. Plus there are other ways of determining if she's a virgin or not," Keoni interjected, stepping out of the crowd and standing by his niece. "You two are drunk!"

"And you're going with her," Ariki spat. Kai nodded in agreement. Kenoi's mouth opened but nothing came out. "Now, I want you two out of here before sunrise tomorrow. No exceptions," the Fire chief added before standing up and stumbling away to his hut. Kai shortly followed.

Lani and Keoni stood there in shock.

* * *

Zai hoped off of the blue tiger and stretched with a loud yawn. He looked around the Air Temple. He had been here once before but he didn't like to think about that part of his past. Back then he was forced to travel with the Fire lord's son on his search for the Avatar. Now he was here as a replacement for the Avatar.

"Oh look skeletons and crumbling buildings, just look at the destruction. I told you I've already seen this before. There really was no point in coming here," Zai grumbled.

"The reason for this is not for the destruction. You know nothing about us spirits. The avatar is meant to be the bridge between our worlds. You are no where close to being a bridge," Kaito stated as he started walking through the temple.

"Thanks for the pep talk," Zai muttered feeling kind of useless now. He followed behind the spirit.

They passed a statue of a monk and suddenly the memories of his pass visit came rushing back to him.

* * *

"_Wow, this must be a statue of a high monk," Zai stated appraising the statue. His clothing is different from that of other airbenders in pictures we've see. And look at that necklace, it must symbolize something, I just wish I knew what," Zai mused._

"_We're not her to admire statues Zai. We're here to look for the Avatar, and you've been no help since the beginning," Zuko snapped. "Just stay here and let my soldiers search high and low. We don't need your help anymore"_

_Zai glared at him. He could think of some very hurtful words to say at Zuko. Two years of this attitude from the one heir to the throne was enough to make Zai go insane. He opened his mouth to say something spiteful to Zuko but Iroh stopped him._

"_I apologize for my nephew's actions; he is just confused right now. He is following the destiny his father has marked out for him. You and I both know that is just a path to destruction. He will find his way, but he will not do so if you keep angering him every second of the day, Zai. Why don't you go make us some tea," Iroh said pleasantly and wisely. Zai nodded and walked away. _

_Zai wandered into the most run down part of the temple. Some things could barely be recognized as buildings. He wandered a little further to see a door covered in a ratty cloth._

"_This must be the prayer grounds, there was one like this in the Northern air temple," Zai said to himself as he brushed the cloth to the side and entered the room. _

_Zai froze. It was a room filled with skeletons. The prayer grounds was filled with dead bodies. The Fire Nation attacked them in their most sacred act. He saw a necklace on one of them that was very familiar. It was the necklace of the high monk. They didn't even respect his death; they just let his body rot at the spot of his death. Zai was filled with anger and disgust. _

_Zuko entered the room gave a quick glare at Zai and a glance around the room._

"_No Avatar in here. Let's keep moving," Zuko said._

"_No Avatar? Let's keep moving? Are you not fazed at all by this? These are the prayer grounds of a once great nation, and there are skeletons everywhere! We killed them while they were praying!" Zai snapped. "Our people have disrespected everything about the Air Nomads"_

"_That is not my problem. My problem is finding the Avatar. My problem is getting my father's love back. You can make this your problem if you want but this is no concern of mine"_

_Zai snapped. He couldn't take Zuko anymore. He swung his fist and hit Zuko square in the jaw. Zuko tumbled to the ground._

"_You're Father's love? Your father doesn't love you! That's why he sent you on this wild goose chase, and for some reason I got dragged along!"_

"_Take that back," Zuko said as he stood up. His hands glowed as the fire started to build in his hands. _

"_I'm not going to take back the truth," Zai said. Zuko gave out an angry cry before shooting a stream of fire at Zai. Zai quickly made a wall of green fire in front of him, barely in time to block Zuko's attack. _

_Zai lowered the wall to see Zuko in the air with a fire arc streaming from his foot. He kicked down at Zai who got knocked back and skidded across the ground. Zuko went for the same attack. Zai lifted himself into a hand stand shooting his mesmerizing green fire from his feet, blasting Zuko high into the sky and landing in another room._

_Zai darted after him. When he entered the pace Zuko was in he was greeted with a fire blast that Zai blocked as a slid on the ground when he tried to stop .Zai tripped over his own feet but recover by doing a summersault as he landed and jumped back to to shoot some fire blasts at Zuko, most of which hit him. Fire bursted from Zai's feet and he flew through the air towards Zuko, trying to get in one good solid strike._

_Zai was met with a hand on his chest and he landed. The breath was knocked out of him and he stood weakly holding his chest. Iroh glared at him. _

"_What are you two doing? I know you're both upset over different things and you aren't seeing eye to eye, these problems can be solved with words. Not hurtful words but calm understanding words that get your point across clearly and more respected. If you have anything to say to each other say it now,"Iroh stated. _

"_I have something to say," Zai said. "I'm leaving" he looked over at a soldier observing. "You come with me to the ship to get my things. I'll be gone before you finish searching the temple"_

_Those were the last things he said to them. _

* * *

"Here we are," Kaito said as he stopped in front of two large wooden doors. Zai looked at them blankly for a moment.

"When I was here we couldn't open these doors. I'm sure they won't open now," Zai stated.

"Only an airbender can unlock these doors but shooting air through those tubes. But you can also use a spirit," Kaito explained.

"that's you solution for everything," Zai mumbled.

"All I have to do is ask the past Avatars to open these doors for me"

"Why the Avatars?

"You'll see"

With that said a blue glow came from inside the locked room and the doors slowly swung open. A gust of wind eased out of the room as they walked in. the room was filled with statues of people from all four nations. The patterned of the people seemed to go in this order: Water, Earth, Fire, Air.

"These are the Avatars before our time. There spirits are still present in this room, I can just sense them. The first thing I would like you to observe are the patterns of the elements"

"Water, Earth, Fire, Air. What about it?"

"That is the cycle of the Avatar. Who was the last known Avatar, Zai?"

"Roku," Zai answered as he wondered further into the room. He found the statue that ended the cycle, a man from the Fire Nation. Avatar Roku. "Which means the next Avatar was going to be an Air Nomad. That's why Fire Lord Sozin killed them all when the comet arrived a hundred years ago"

"What you need to do to become a proper replacement for the Avatar, is to fully understand this cycle and full understand the elements. You most be one part of all the elements, just like the Avatar is"

"But if Sozin killed all the Air Nomads, including the Avatar wouldn't he or she be reincarnated in the water tribe then?"

"That is correct. That is why the spirits sent me to look for the Avatar. But when I see the Avatar's soul in my visions, it is not the soul of a waterbender, it's the soul of an airbender. The last airbender,"

"I thought you brought my here to teach me about spiritual stuff, not element stuff"

"I will teach you all you need to know about the spirits and the spirit world. It is your duty to find those to teach you the elements. This is your duty now; if you do not follow this I have no choice but to take your life away. That is our deal"

Zai's heart beat quickly. He was now determined to find people to teach him how he could be the best avatar he could be, without actually being the Avatar. At the same time he felt like Kaito wasn't telling him everything that this deal entailed.

He was ready for the new journey ahead of him.


End file.
